Loose Cannon Hop3 IPA | Heavy Seas Beer

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Burnished gold with a rich citrus hop aroma, it is wonderfully drinkable with a big hop flavor. We’ve knicknamed it Hop3 (hop cubed) ale to reflect the enormous amount of hops in this beer: over 3 pounds per barrel! It is hopped 3 ways: in the kettle, in the hop back, and dry hopped.

More User Reviews:

Dad got a growler from the brewery and brought it back home... basically as fresh as it gets right here.

Appearance: Slow pour from the growler didn't give too much of a head at all -- a small white ring, but that's about it. The beer is a slightly hazy orange. Minimal lacing left behind.

Smell: A whole bunch going on -- Hop^3 is right. There's a pure dank hop smell, then plenty of citrus, herbal notes, floral aromas, and malt... a lot of IPAs tend to have a focus in their hops, this beer really is a Loose Cannon -- it shoots pretty much every hop aroma you can imagine at you and it does it quite well.

Taste/feel: Herbal and floral with citrus, a little dank pine that's a bit more in the background, and a nice malt finish. This is a fantastic IPA... has some great, quite different flavors. Very, very clean bittersweet finish on this that makes it pretty damn thirst quenching. Very well crafted. The bitterness is moderate if not low for the style, which aids in making this drink so easily. Seriously refreshing IPA that drinks too easily for the 7.25%. The mouthfeel is moderate all around with a decent body and middle-of-the-road carbonation that works pretty much perfectly. Strange thing about this beer is that it seems to go in feeling a little "Uh-oh, I don't think this'll be very good..." but the mid-drink and finish changes all of that.

Color me impressed. My rating's no doubt likely slightly inflated compared to others because I was able to get it fresh from the tap from the brewery, but I'll definitely be looking for bottles of this around me. One of the best year-round IPAs I've had for quite awhile.

Poures a lighter golden with a thinner white head thatwas gone pretty fast leaving no lace behind,seemed a bit spritzy.Big pine filled aromas and herbal mint really seemed to stick out with a touch of caramel underneath.Obviously hop driven but not over the top,lingering resiny pine flavors over top of biscuity lightly sweet caramel malt,the citrus is there more in the finish the pine profile is a little bigger.A solid offering the alcohol is very well hidden and the flavors meld well,nice job here.

A: The beer is clear copper in color and does not have any signs of visible carbonation. It poured with a thin yet dense head that took a long time to die down and left lacy patterns covering the surface.
S: There are light to moderate aromas of citrusy hops in the smell.
T: Like the smell, the taste is very citrusy—grapefruit stands out in particular—and also has some hints of bready malts. There is a mild to moderate amount of bitterness.
M: It feels medium-bodied, slightly crisp and somewhat smooth on the palate and has a light to moderate amount of carbonation.
O: The beer does taste strong but isn’t difficult to drink because the taste is well balanced and the alcohol is mostly masked from the taste.

Pours a nice cloudy amber with a generous head. Smells like lavender, herbs and hops. A nice mild bitter taste with hints of herbs from start to finish. Thin to medium in feel with a medium to light carbonation.

T:Again grapefruits and hops meld together beutifully.
M: Nice medium bodied with a pleasant creaminess.
D: Amazing. I've loved Loose Cannon for a while but to finally try it on cask....Fuhgedaboutit!!

A- Pours a beautiful golden orange. 2 Fingers of head that leave great lacing when it dissipates. Which it has not fully left after sitting ten minutes to warm up a shad.

S- Wow. Just amazing. Great american hops. Grapefruit presence with a slight pine resin in there. Mild malt backbone that seems to balance it out.

T- Unbelievable. This beer is simply amazing. What an IPA. Ultra clean finish, with a moderate crisp from carbonation. Grapefruit, citrus note and a undertone of pine. I love the hop profile combination. No alcohol taste or smell. Pretty straight forward beer that I have come to enjoy time after time. Since discovering this beer I have purchased about 10 6 packs and have consumed all :)

This is a great example of a balanced, hop forward beer. Its clean and super refreshing on this hot hot hot summer day. Highly recommended and its a 10/10 in my IPA eyes!

Served on tap at Brothers' BBQ in Danville, KY. Very fresh and surprisingly good. Nice, hazy orange color, rather akin to darker orange juice, and a pretty hrad that recedes to 1/3" after a coupe of minutes and leaves a a decent bit of lacing. Smells of rich, citric and tropical hops, and honey. Hops flavors of tangerine, grapefruit, kumquats, mangoes, pine, and grass compete with a sturdy malt backbone, with notes of crackers and honey. Finish is dry and quenching, with spicy, grapefruity hop flavors and a hint of honey persisting for a good few minutes. Medium bodied, medium carbonation, and a smooth, refreshing moutufeel.

A- clear honey gold. Decent medium bone white head that lasted a good bit. A little lacing, not much. Very pleasing/inviting to the eye.

S- clean, piney, floral, hoppy, citrus (grapefruit).

T- bitter hops up front. Malty, biscuity on the end. Big citrus wallop (grapefruit on the nose carries to the taste, big time).

M- medium body. Well balanced. A good bit going on here but very consistent throughout.

O- excellent! An outstanding IPA. Was a gateway beer for me several years ago when first getting used to this style, and has remained a "Big 4" for me over time (the other 3? Lagunitas Lil Sumpin', Bells Two Hearted, 21st Ammendment Brew Free or Die). Also, very reasonably priced ($7.99 at Total Wine). An additional note, visit the brewery if you have the opportunity. A great tour and tasting room.

Giving Loose Cannon an overall 5 is not an overstatement. Rare, indeed, when an American IPA goes down smooth, just the right combination of hops and spice, yet at 7.25% this is one outstanding, drinkable beer. By far this is my favorite American IPA. Heavy Seas nailed this one.. Cheers!

Thanks to Shroud0f doom for this one from NBS BIF #1. Best by date of 5/17/15. Poured into 10oz goblet. Poured a lightly hazy yellow amber color, with about 1/4 inch of light khaki head that had low-moderate retention and left sheets of lacing.

The aroma was very hoppy, mostly pine and floral, with a bit of citrus in the background, and had a low malt presence. On the tongue the flavors were similar, but bolder. The citrus hop flavors dominated the finish.

The body was medium, pretty much what you expect for the style. Drinkability was good, the beer was gone smoothly and quickly. Overall, a very nice, solid IPA, one that anyone would be happy to have as a reliable, local go-to brew. Worth trying if you see it.

Love this beer. It is my favorite American IPA. Could be biased since i live about 4 miles from the brewery but the smell of this beer is amazing...grapefruit is what i get right away along with pine. Very plesent smell. The taste is amazing. Very sweet and citrusy that is slightly bitter. Just a great blend that has an amazing finish. Again if you can get this beer in your area, try it!

T: malt forwards IPA with muted citrus, floral and earthy hop notes. They say this one is "hop cubed" but they must be using a third of the hops each time compared to your typical IPA!

M: medium body and moderate to high carbonation.

Overall: this beer seems a little overhyped. It is good and very drinkable but when I think of beers falling in the 4.5 or exceptional category IPA style, this one is comparably weak. Not a bad beer though overall.

Transparent tangerine beneath a lemon-accented ivory crown that is the best part of the appearance. The foam is firm and sticky rather than creamy and persists for quite a while. Small splotches and flecks of sea foam lace end up on the glass.

It's impossible for a brewer that has any amount of talent (and those at Clipper City have a great deal) to create an IPA with a hop bill like this one that doesn't smell freakin' incredible. For the record: Magnum, Centennial, Chinook, Amarillo and Palisade (at least 3 of which are on my 'all time greats' list). The nose is bursting with grapefruit, orange, pineapple and all manner of tropical fruity hop esters.

When the first gulp hit my taste buds, I thought the flavor was easily the equal of the nose. However, rather than rise to a mind-blowing crescendo of hoptastic goodness like the best DIPAs do, the flavor began a steady decline all the way to and through the finish. Loose Cannon is still mighty tasty beer, it just isn't exceptional beer.

It's fairly well-malted for the style, with no caramel malt to muddy things up flavor-wise. That leaves the door open for that murderer's row of hops to rush through and make one hell of a memorable entrance... except they don't. Again, I'm being somewhat nitpicky, but I require a certain hoppy explosiveness in my DIPAs that I'm just not getting here.

The flavor profile abounds in grapefruit, orange and assorted tropical fruit fruitiness (just like the nose) as well as a fresh, 'pine forest at dawn' spruciness is appealing. The amount of bitterness wasn't noteworthy during the top half of the bottle, but I'm finding it more so in the bottom half. This is another one of those cumulatively bitter beers that'll sneak up on your tongue if you're not careful. The 7.5% ABV should be completely buried, but isn't quite.

The mouthfeel (like the rest of the beer) is somewhere between an IPA and a true DIPA. It's medium-full with some expansiveness in the mouth, but stops short of being heavily creamy or chewy.

After the Peg Leg Imperial Stout misstep, Loose Cannon gets me excited again about the Heavy Seas line from Clipper City. It isn't the best version of the style that I've had, even in the past few weeks, but it is a tasty, drinkable beer that I have no trouble recommending to those whose hop itch needs a good scratch.

Appearance  This one came out light orange in color with a big, beautiful white head.

Smell  The hops here are huge and raunchy. The giant pine resin and pure, unadulterated orange aroma was just rank. It was the kind of smell that causes people to make a funny face. It was almost perfumey in a sense; it was such a concentrated smell.

Taste  This was just hop harsh in the mouth. If you dont like hops you will definitely hate this beer. The hops arent even smooth, they are just raw in your face pine and rindy orange. Not to be outdone, the malts were big with some powdery spiciness.

Mouthfeel  This was medium-bodied with some sharp citrusy notes on the sides of the tongue. This felt very heavy going down. The ABV is a bit light to be called an ADIPA but it sure felt like a Double in the mouth.

Drinkability  This is an amazing ale with a huge, monster presence that youll either love or hate. I loved it!

Intense hops in the nose, grapefruit and other sweet citrus with some light hints of pine in the background.

Wow, juiciest of juicy hops sting the tastebuds and white grapes and oranges round out the experience. Initially clean, then halfway through the hops hit you, then drive right into a dead end road of white grapes, oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit. Little to no malt being tasted.

Carbonation is just right though.

The hops in this one are juicy and sweet with very little bitterness at all. Day in and day out this beer could keep me satisfied. This is a IPA that hardly gets the respect it deserves. A better choice than their black IPA.